The mate of his nanny

Chapter 195: Finishing Move

Moana

Edrick stood, pushing his sleeves up to his elbows. "I guess we are gonna have a round two," he said.

Ethan's bloodied face flashed with what looked like fear. Around us, the Rogues seemed to notice Edrick's surge in strength. In a flurry of frightened yips and snarls, the Rogues took off in their wolf forms, leaving only Ethan to deal with.

"I got this," Edrick said, holding his hand out to the cops before they could jump in and restrain Ethan. I continued to kneel on the floor, completely in awe of Edrick's strength. He looked bigger, even physically, since I marked him.
Suddenly, Edrick rushed at Ethan with a speed that I had never seen before. Ethan didn't even have time to react before Edrick slammed him to the ground so hard that the floor around him cracked. I gasped, jumping to my feet as I clamped my hand over my mouth. Had he killed him?

I heard Ethan groan, and saw him move. Thankfully, he wasn't dead. Edrick picked him up by a fistful of his shirt and growled something in his ear before dropping him back to the floor. He stepped away from Ethan and allowed the cops to restrain him, and as they did he came back to me and pulled me tightly into his arms.

"I told you not to mark me," Edrick whispered, stroking my hair as I buried my face in his chest.

"I had to," I replied. I looked up to see that the silver glow in Edrick's eyes had faded back to his natural icy blue color, but there was something else there now. I could sense immense love coming from Edrick's gaze. He kissed my forehead gently, then cupped my face in his hands.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine," I said. "Kelly knocked me out earlier by hitting me in the head, but I feel fine."

Edrick looked concerned, and checked my head. Thanks to my wolf growing in strength from marking him, though, my head was healed. There wasn't even a bump or a bruise, whereas before I had felt a splitting headache when I woke up.

Behind us, the cops put handcuffs on Ethan and hauled him to his feet. Edrick and I watched as they led him out of the warehouse, reading him his Miranda Rights. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law..."

Edrick and I followed. Ethan went silently with the cops, and didn't protest as they led him over to one of their cars. He seemed defeated; he knew what his fate was now. He would go to prison for what he did. As Edrick and I stood in the flashing blue and red lights of the police cars, we saw an ambulance pull up. Several EMT's got out and rushed up to us and began to ask us a million questions while a few more ran inside with a stretcher. By the time they came out with Kelly on the stretcher, she was waking up and groaning and saying nonsense. I was glad that she was alive and that no one had died that night, but at the same time I knew that she, too, would go to prison along with Ethan for what they did.

Ahead of us, the cops opened their car door and began to push Ethan inside. That was the only time he struggled, just for a moment: "Moana!" he shouted, yanking against the cops that were holding him. "I'll always love you! I'm sorry!"

I shuddered as I watched him disappear into the cop car. Edrick's arm tightened around me protectively, and although the scene was a cacophony of noise as everyone rushed around, I swore that I could hear him growl slightly under his breath.

When the EMT's finally gave us some space, I couldn't keep it in anymore. I turned toward Edrick and opened my mouth to begin telling him everything about how I tried to run away - but Edrick, seeing this, shook his head and put his finger to his lips.

"It's okay," he said gently. "I know you have a lot to tell me, but it can wait. Let's just get home."
I closed my mouth and nodded slowly, feeling my face go red. One of the police then waved us over to his car, and as we approached, I let out a massive sigh of relief to see Ella still sleeping peacefully in the back seat.

"She should come around soon," the EMT who was checking on her said. "It looks like someone put her under a simple sleeping spell. When she wakes up, she probably won't remember anything from the last twenty-four hours."

I couldn't help but feel relieved by this, and I knew that Edrick felt relieved, too. Not only did I of course not want Ella to remember anything about being kidnapped and held at gunpoint, but I also didn't want her to remember that I had taken her out of her bed and told her about her biological mother. I never should have done any of it, and I felt awful. From now on, I decided that I wouldn't bring up her mother until Edrick was ready; but it did need to happen eventually. That was one thing that I was sure of. Ella couldn't go on for her entire life thinking that her mother was dead. She needed to know what her mother was really like.

Of course, I still didn't know Olivia's full story. But from what I observed that night, it seemed to me that she was a liar who took Ethan's money to make me hate Edrick. I decided that I would have to get Edrick's side of the story, just as I should have done from the beginning. From now on, things would be different. Edrick was my mate now; I would never accuse him of trying to hurt me again. I knew now that he only ever wanted to protect me and Ella.

Finally, Edrick and I climbed into the back of the police car with Ella. Edrick wrapped his arms around her sleeping body and held her tightly, rocking her back and forth. I thought that I heard him whisper something to her under his breath, but I didn't pry. The terror he must have felt when he suddenly discovered her missing must have been unparalleled, and now they were reunited. I felt like the worst person alive for doing that to him.

The cops pulled away from the empty warehouse. I turned in my seat and watched the big brick building fade into the distance as more police covered the door with crime scene tape. Even as we made our way back through the Rogue district, things seemed more peaceful; no Rogues bothered us, and it actually seemed as though word of Edrick's Alpha strength had spread, causing the Rogues to cower as the cop car drove past.

That night, I couldn't wait to get home. I just hoped that Edrick would forgive me when I told him the true story of what had happened.